Chronicle Covers: The Catch that started the 49ers’ dynasty

The Chronicle’s front page from Jan. 11, 1981, covers The Catch, which helped propel the San Francisco 49ers to their first Super Bowl.

The Chronicle’s front page from Jan. 11, 1981, covers The Catch,...

Two words: The Catch.

The Chronicle’s front page from Jan. 11, 1982, covers the 49ers’ clinching of their first trip to the Super Bowl after a miraculous reception by receiver Dwight Clark on a pass from quarterback Joe Montana.

“The banner in the stands at Candlestick Park yesterday screamed ‘Motown Bound,’” the story read, “and in the wake of yesterday’s tightrope-thin triumph over the Dallas Cowboys, the Super Bowl in Detroit is where the euphoric army of 49er fans knew their team was headed.”

The photo above The Chronicle nameplate shows the decisive moment, a play so dramatic, so important, so improbable, it’s known simply as The Catch.

Coach Bill Walsh’s upstart 49ers had steered the franchise away from mediocrity, and they were playing their rivals from Texas, a team that had dominated the NFC the previous decade. Few expected the 49ers to win, and with less than five minutes to play, the game looked bleak for thee Red and Gold.

Montana, however, remained undaunted. He led his team down the field on a 14-play drive that ended in a famous fingertip grab that began the 49ers’ dynasty of the 1980s and vanquished the Cowboys after their 1970s dominance.

That’s cold, fellas: A story on the front page covers a record cold front moving across the country. You’re probably thinking, But how cold was it, really? “It was 26 degrees below zero in Chicago yesterday, 25 below in Milwaukee and 19 below in Boone, N.C., on the coldest day of the 20th century for much of the Midwest and East,” the story read. Yeah, that’s cold.

See more front pages: Go to SFChronicle.com/covers to search a database of hundreds of Chronicle Covers articles that showcase the newspaper’s 151-year history.

Chronicle Covers is a yearlong project that will highlight one classic Chronicle newspaper page from our archive every day for 366 days. Library director Bill Van Niekerken and producers Kimberly Chua, Alexandra Irving and Jillian Sullivan contributed to the project. Tim O’Rourke is the executive producer and editor of SFChronicle.com. Email: torourke@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TimothyORourke